Today I would like to write about one of my favourite film directors, Ildiko Enyedi, born in Hungary in 1955. Her style is very unique and has always interested me. She has done very few films unfortunately; four in total. I saw her first film a couple of years ago, and this week I had the chance to see two more films from her. I will briefly discuss each one.

I discovered her first film, My 20th Century (Az én XX. Szazadom, Hungary, 1989) by chance while renting a couple of foreign movies. I loved this movie so much I have seen it several times now. It is the story of two twin sisters born in Budapest. Each take a different path in life: one becomes a revolutionary / terrorist and the other one becomes a prostitute in the high-class milieu of Hungarian bourgeoisie. They both meet the mysterious Mr. Z, and at the end their lives will meet again thanks to him. This is what I call a “poetic” film full of images, music, very few dialogue sequences and a very original way of telling the story, very non-linear approach. The black and white photography won this film recognition at the Cannes film festival.

Enyedi’s next movie, the Magic Hunter (Büvös Vadasz, Hungary, 1994) tells the story of a hunter in the Middle Ages, seen thru the eyes of a child. At the same time it is the story of a marriage that is menaced when the wife meets a Russian chess player. The movie moves from past to present effortlessly. Again you can recognise several of Enyedi’s characteristics, like transitions from one scene using strong music scores, floating cameras showing landscapes, and two stories intertwined to create one solid picture.

The last movie I saw is called Tamas and Juli (Tamas és Juli, Hungary, 1997). This is a love story between two young people in a mining town in Hungary. Tamas works at the mines. He falls in love with Julika, a nursery teacher. On New Year’s Eve 2000, Juli decides to go into the mine to spend the night with Tamas, who has to work night shift. The cinematography is really good, and although the movie is only 60 minutes long, it delivers an interesting and sad story.